Carnival Blues: 12 (DI Nick Dixon Crime)

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What you get is a taste of 1950s Chicago, with a bit of 1940s here and there. Which means Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Wynonie Harris, Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters and the well-known apiarist Roosevelt ‘The Honeydripper’ Sykes. Not forgetting the three Kings: Freddie, Albert and B.B.

Figures from the Gozo Tourism Association indicated a significant number of cancellations and a drop in the level of bookings compared to last year. Amongst the restrictions that were imposed over the carnival holiday period, the one that seemed to irk both the tourists and the accommodation owners was the fine that would be imposed on anyone found crowding the accommodation, with a fine of €2,329 for the licence holders and €100.00 each for the guests. As always, Damien Boyd delivers an intriguing police procedural crime story, that not only delivers in mystery, but delves into sub-plots that are interesting and unique. Squibbing, I mean I didn’t even know what it was, let alone that Somerset Carnival Clubs squibbing is something unique across the entire planet. Take that and throw in a little Estate Agent tomfoolery and you are in for an enjoyable ride. And the crime being enacted, and solved, herein is also quite intriguing and kept my attention, and kept me guessing throughout. It's well plotted and that plot is expertly executed with some great characters, both series and episode. All, irrespective of the size of their contribution, well drawn and completely credible.

Over 800 carnival performers will present music, dance, costumes, puppets, circus, and acrobatics from groups including Banda Dida (Brazil), Circo Fantazztico (Costa Rica), Belmont Freetown Performing Arts Company(Trinidad), Barefeet Theatre (Zambia), Harlem Samba (USA) Artscape(South Africa) KalentuRa Drums (the Netherlands) Gwanaval (Martinique) and Samba Resille (France) as well as Pulse of the Place, Edinburgh Chinese Art & Culture Community and Dance Ihaymi from Edinburgh. Mark is a songster, and his songs cover all manner of non-standard subjects. With catchy tunes, lyrics than intrigue and engage, and striking rhythms, they make you smile, think and move. He takes elements of roots music, including folk, blues and gospel, to create something new that is very much his own genre. Each song is a snapshot of life or has a story to tell, like a 3-minute film or novel. Carnival has always reflected the energy and activism of the times, while being many things to many people. My journey with it started in the 1980s, when my Ghanaian father would drive me from our home in the London suburbs into the heart of the street festival. Dad was a taxi driver, whose raison d’etre was conversation: he revelled at the chance to chat with more than one person at a time, and exchanged a ceremonial ‘hello!’ with every passer-by, which left little time for dancing. It simply is not business as usual right now and will not be for a while. It would be far better if we could pull together and work towards emerging from the pandemic with as few deaths as possible and by helping to support the economy safely. It is simply unfair to bring more casualties onto the whole population for the sake of satisfying a culture of festivity and business opportunities. It is, though, an example of enforcement hitting its purpose in ensuring health and safety in the present conditions.

However, my experience of Carnival changed when I attended with my extended Trinidadian family. This was the early 1990s, by which time the crowds seemed to have doubled. I remember holding our cans of Red Stripe above our heads to avoid spillages, bodies pushing heavily behind us, as we navigated our way towards the sound systems. Our traditions of jerk food and dancing continue today, but the experience is now enriched by taking my daughter to enjoy the painted revellers and costumes along the parade. Five guys who set out to play swinging R&B and shuffling blues. That’s proper R&B kids, not RnB, that funny new stuff they do now. However, after talks on Friday, Carnival UK announced it had rescinded the HR1 form and with Nautilus issued a joint statement saying both parties were “committed to engaging in meaningful consultation”. A kind of compromise was reached where the establishments were made responsible, along with the tourists, to control the occupancy and ensure it did not exceed the stipulated permit for guests. Gozo Channel were also instructed to dampen the frequency of the ferries or the load factor and commuters were advised, against good practice, to stay in their car for the duration of the voyage. Attention was brought to the fact that this could cause harm and was ill advised.In the statement, they said: “Nautilus International and Carnival UK are able to confirm, following joint discussions held this afternoon, that both parties are committed to engaging in meaningful consultation in finding a way forward following the start of consultation on proposed contractual changes for 919 maritime professionals.